5A REGION 1 GIRLS BASKETBALL: Lake City plays big, downs Post Falls

COEUR d’ALENE — There’s a first for everything.

First regional points as a freshman and a first time debuting a taller lineup.

Both situations paid off at the right time on Friday night for second-seeded Lake City, which opened the 5A Region 1 tournament with a 45-41 win over the third-seeded Post Falls Trojans at Lake City High.

Lake City featured 6-foot-4 center Brooklyn Rewers, 6-foot forward Brenna Hawkins and 6-2 forward Tanai Jenkins on the floor. The trio combined for 25 of the team’s 45 points.

“That’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while,” Lake City coach James Anderson said. “But we’ve been banged up with injuries and never seemed to find the timing to work on that very much until recently. It’s something we’ve been toying with and thought we’d always get to. It’s a good time to mix it up and throw it out there. They’re all athletic, long, smart and it’s a tough lineup to score on. It’s kind of a fun thing to be able to do.”

Due to injuries and other circumstances, Friday was the first time Anderson had been able to play all three forwards at the same time.

“Brenna’s been hurt a good part of the year and we haven’t been able to find the opportunity to look at it,” Anderson said. “We looked at it at practice the other day, but never had them suited and ready at the same time. Maybe we’ll see it again. I don’t know.”

“I feel like we signed up for a 6-foot-and-under league and they let a 6-4 team in,” said Post Falls coach Marc Allert, who has just two players at 6 foot on his roster. “We battled and did what we can. But when they put 6-2, 6-4 and 6-foot in, it’s tough. But our kids battled. I’m proud of their effort.”

On Tuesday, Lake City (13-5) travels to top-seeded Coeur d’Alene (17-1) for the regional championship game, while Post Falls (11-7) hosts Lewiston (3-13). Both games are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Coeur d’Alene beat No. 4 Lewiston 71-45 at Viking Court in the other opening-round game.

Post Falls had a chance to tie the game with 24.5 seconds remaining, but missed a 3-point attempt. Lake City freshman Sophia Zufelt hit a clinching free throw with 4.5 seconds remaining.

“That’s a tough situation to be in,” Anderson said. “We didn’t do a good job of converting free throws in the last couple of minutes. We had our best three shooters (Kendall Pickford, Rewers and Zufelt) on the line and didn’t come away with a lot of points. The difference between a good team and a great team is that they find a way to win, even when they don’t make a lot of shots, and we kind of figured it out after having a bad shooting night.”

Trinidie Nichols scored 10 points, Dylan Lovett nine for Post Falls. Hanna Christensen hit a 3-pointer with 1:02 remaining to make it 44-41.

“I thought we battled,” Allert said. “The kids played with a lot of heart and battled their butts off. They battled, the effort was there, but Lake City is a tough matchup. They’re big and strong and physical. They get those extra rebounds that we have to fight to get. And it makes it tough. We got down to the end and didn’t execute as well as we could have. But you can’t fault our effort.”

Post Falls 14 9 5 13 — 41

Lake City 7 13 14 11 — 44

POST FALLS — McLean 0, Nichols 10, Lovett 9, Grant 0, Sims 5, Buckley 2, Crane 0, Magnuson 0, Walton 0, Blake 7, Christensen 8.

LAKE CITY — Ke. Pickford 5, Miller 8, Zufelt 1, Shanley 6, Rewers 14, Jenkins 5, Parks 0, Hawkins 6.

Coeur d'Alene 71, Lewiston 45: Sophomore Madi Symons scored 11 of her 16 points in the first half for the Vikings, who rolled past the Bengals in the opening round of the 5A Region 1 tournament at Viking Court.

"The girls played hard and played as a team," Coeur d'Alene coach Nicole Symons said. "We made the extra passes tonight to get the easier shots. Our defensive pressure is always intense, but we are playing much more efficient on the offensive end. It is so fun to watch the girls be excited for each other and enjoy playing with each other."

Jaelyn Brainard-Adams scored 14 points for Coeur d’Alene (17-1), which hosts Lake City in the championship game on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

Katy Wessels scored 16 points for Lewiston (3-13), which plays at Post Falls in a loser-out game on Tuesday.

Lewiston6 16 11 12 — 45

Coeur d’Alene 19 23 21 8 — 71

LEWISTON — Collins 3, U’Ren 5, Hill 3, Bursch 0, Wessels 16, Barney 4, Ortiz 6, Kessinger 8, McRoberts 0, Taylor 0.

COEUR d’ALENE — Matheson 3, Brainard-Adams 14, Whiteman 7, Symons 16, Ja. Johnson 5, Je. Johnson 2, Younker 0, J. Chavez 8, Phenicie 0, Naccarato 0, Burke 12, K. Chavez 2.